Roseburg’s Harrison secures sweep of South Medford with complete-game victory
MEDFORD — Roseburg’s Brevin Harrison went the distance in Game 2 of a Southwest Conference doubleheader against South Medford and helped the Indians earn a road sweep of the Panthers on Saturday at Harry and David Field.
Harrison’s complete-game victory required a little extra effort as Roseburg needed extra innings to earn the 4-3 win.
Jake Johnson tossed six strong innings in the opener to guide the Indians to a 5-1 victory.
The wins keep Roseburg (8-5, 4-1 SWC) half a game behind Willamette for first place in the conference standings.
“Today was huge, especially coming off of Tuesday (a 13-0 loss at South Salem),” said Roseburg assistant coach Tim Sustaire. “It wasn’t pretty, but wins are wins.”
Harrison was efficient in his marathon outing. The senior finished with 107 pitches thrown over nine innings, three shy of the daily max per OSAA rules.
“In Game 2 we did everything we could to not get that done and the one guy that kept us in it was Brevin Harrison. What a phenomenal effort by him to stick with it and be efficient. He deserved that win,” Sustaire said.
South Medford (4-6, 1-3) managed just six hits against Harrison, who struck out four and walked just one. Sustaire commended Harrison on his determination.
“His pitch count was down, he felt good and he wanted the ball. More than anything he wanted to finish it,” Sustaire said. “Even when things didn’t go his way, he just kept doing what he needed to do and gave us a chance. Without him doing that, who knows how that game would have gone.”
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead with runs in the second and fourth innings on singles by Evan Rhoden. Only one of those runs were earned.
Roseburg knotted the score at 2-2 when South’s defense struggled to make plays. Harrison and Camden Hartsell drove in runs, capitalizing on a pair of Panthers’ errors.
The Indians took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk by Johnson, but South Medford tied the score in the home-half of the frame on a two-out single by Chance Ryan.
After giving up the lead, Harrison buckled down and retired the next nine South Medford hitters.
Roseburg pushed across the winning run after a leadoff walk to Harrison in the ninth. Relief pitcher Evan Powers inherited a bases-loaded situation and couldn’t find the zone against Heath King, issuing a walk to put the Indians in front 4-3.
“Finding a way to get two on the road is never easy, especially in our league. Game 2 was not pretty, especially offensively, but we found a way to do it,” Sustaire said. Roseburg struck out 14 times in the nightcap.
The Tribe led wire-to-wire in the opener. Dane St. Clair and Johnson had RBI groundouts in the first inning to put Roseburg ahead 2-0. The Indians added two runs in the fifth on a throwing error and plated their final run in the seventh on a two-out single by Johnson.
Johnson was also solid on the mound, scattering six hits over six innings of work. He surrendered one run, while walking three and recording three strikeouts.
Brooks Avery had two hits in both games for Roseburg and Paxton Burke was 3-for-6 in Game 2.
Roseburg will continue conference play on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against the Sheldon Irish in Eugene.
First game
Roseburg;200;020;1;—;5;7;1
South Medford;000;100;0;—;1;7;2
Johnson, St. Clair (7) and Burke; Rhoden and Long. W — Johnson (3-2). L — Rhoden (1-2). 2B — Harrison (R), Leavens (SM).
Second game
Roseburg;000;021;001;—;4;9;3
South Medford;010;101;000;—;3;5;3
Harrison and Burke; Mallari, Robertson (5), Lewis (7), Leavens (8), Powers (9) and Long. W — Harrison (2-2). L — Leavens (0-1). 2B — Mitchell (SM).
